If you’re a pinball fan, then you need to know that Pinball FX from Zen Studios is ready to go on PlayStation 5. Learn more in our Pinball FX review!
If you’re a pinball fan, then you need to know that Pinball FX from Zen Studios is ready to go on PlayStation 5. If you’re a pinball fan, then you need to know that Pinball FX from Zen Studios is ready to go on PlayStation 5. As a huge pinball fan who grew up playing physical pinball machines in arcades way back in the day, the many pinball games from Zen Studios have always been at the top of my list. It’s now 2023, and Zen Studios is ready to unleash its latest revamped pinball platform for all of your pinball needs: Pinball FX. Yes, there’s a Pinball FX2 on PlayStation 4. There’s even a Pinball FX3 on Sony’s last-gen console, but the studio has decided to streamline things by giving us a free Cross-Buy PS4 and PS5 Pinball FX that will now become your new pinball home.
Once you boot up the game and agree to take on the tutorial tour, you’ll be greeted by Jackpot. Jackpot will serve as your tour so that you can get to know how Pinfall FX can turn into your own personal pinball paradise. You’ll be presented with the general controls that you’ll be using during your time with each of the many tables that Pinball FX has to offer. The L1 and L2 buttons will be used for the flippers on the left side of the table, while the R1 and R2 buttons will be used for the flippers on the right side. The X button will be used for launching the ball into play.
You can use the left analog stick to nudge the table left or right, or forward as needed. Just be careful not to overdo it, or else you’ll end up tilting the table. If this happens, your flippers will be paralyzed, and you’ll end up losing your current ball(s) that are in play. You can change the camera view by pressing the Triangle button so that you can find the right angle to play each of the tables. You can change this as you see fit at any time, so give all angles a try to find the right one! You can press the Square button to activate a power when playing in Arcade Mode and can press the Circle button to activate any visual extras, but only for Williams Pinball.
When you start to play, you’ll only have the one table that is included with the free download for Pinball FX: Wild West Rampage. It was previously released as part of the Iron and Steel Pinball Pack for Pinball FX2 and Pinball FX3 – which I got to review on the Nintendo Switch. How do you get to add new tables to your collection? There are different options available for pinball aficionados to consider.
You could get one of the different standalone tables to buy some pinball collections. There’s the Zen Originals Collection 1 available for $15.99, which includes access to CastleStorm, Adventure Land, Son of Zeus, Rome, Biolab, Pasha, and Secrets of the Deep. Maybe you’re in a superhero mood and want to get the Marvel Pinball Collection 1 for $23.99, which adds the tables for Captain America, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Blade, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Thor, X-Men, and Moon Knight.
Or maybe you’re looking for your classic pinball table fix, for which I’d suggest the $23.99 Williams Pinball Collection 1, which gives you The Getaway: High Speed II, Junk Yard, Medieval Madness, Black Rose, Attack from Mars, Party Zone, Theatre of Magic, Safe Cracker, and The Champion Pub. Worry not, because before you buy any of the tables in Pinball FX, you can always download the trial version to your library so that you can check it out and see if it’s the right fit for you.
Your other option would be to get a Pinball Pass. Pinball Passes are available for a month of access for 150 in-game Pinball Coins or for a year for 1,200 in-game Pinball Coins. A Pinball Pass will give you access to most of the Pinball FX library, with some licensed exceptions, such as Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure or the aforementioned Marvel Pinball Collection 1. A Pinball Pass will also give you access to all game modes unlocked, as well as all collectibles unlocked.
And how do you get those in-game codes? By buying them with your hard-earned money! Pinball Coins are available for purchase in different bundles at a variety of prices. 100 Pinball Coins will cost you $9.99; 150 Pinball Coins will cost $14.99; 220 Pinball Coins will cost $19.99; 575 Pinball Coins will cost $49.99. The largest bundle you can get is for a whopping 1200 Pinball Coins for $99.99, which is exactly what you need to buy a full year of the Pinball Pass! Oh, and by completing the tutorial tour, you’ll be given a single-day Pinball Pass as a bonus.
Pinball FX is finally ready to enjoy on PlayStation 5. On top of the revamped look for all of the tables in Pinball FX, you’re also getting Pro Physics for every single table, as well as 4K HDR visuals and ray tracing. This is as good as it gets for pinball fans who want to dive into some of the classic tables they grew up playing or take the new tables from Zen Studios for a spin. Every single table has been optimized, remastered, and updated in Unreal Engine to give you the best pinball experience possible. This does, unfortunately, mean that you won’t be able to import your pinball tables from Pinball FX3 into Pinball FX.
You can also customize your Pin Hall room with a series of collectibles you’ll unlock as you play the many tables in Pinball FX so that you can start to make this your own little corner of pinball paradise. There are currently 86 tables available for Pinball FX, a number that will increase to 120 by this summer. There are three tables that are fully new: The Addams Family, Borderlands: Vault Hunter Pinball, and Brothers in Arms: Win the War Pinball.
And along with those three new tables, there are also 16 pinball tables that are making their console debut after being available during the Early Access phase of Pinball FX: Homeworld: Journey to Hiigara Pinball, Sky Pirates: Treasures of the Clouds, Pinball Noir, Curse of the Mummy, Grimm Tales, Wrath of the Elder Gods, The Machine: Bride of Pin·Bot, World Cup Soccer, Swords of Fury, DreamWorks Trolls Pinball, DreamWorks How to Train Your Dragon Pinball, DreamWorks Kung Fu Panda Pinball, World War Z Pinball, Garfield Pinball, MY LITTLE PONY Pinball, and Peanuts’ Snoopy Pinball. Pinball FX is available as a free Cross-Buy title on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and it’s a must-have for pinball aficionados.
Disclaimer
This Pinball FX review is based on a PlayStation 5 code provided by Zen Studios.
